Halloween. An enjoyable, festive, and spooky time of year, memorable to many for various reasons. A date of great significance in particular to one Keith Golbatson Masters, albeit not for the happiest of reasons- the Halloween 2012 incident was one few who witnessed it would forget anytime soon, and the cause of it being none other than a single careless act on the part of aforementioned Poison-type specialist. It was around this time of year he would generally have a recurring nightmare about the event in question, not due to the near-death experience that it was, but due to what it was he did, and how it impacted someone very dear to him.

That's not to say, however, that Halloween was not an enjoyable holiday for Keith Masters. Quite the contrary, he enjoyed Halloween immensely, and was not one to shy away from the whole notion of dressing up in costume. This year, of course, would be no exception. Indeed, Keith reasoned, if there was to be a competition based around Halloween costumes, then why the hell not enter it?

Such was the thought process of Keith Masters himself as he made his way through La Ville des Farceurs et Voleurs. He looked much the same as usual, with his red and white sleeveless jacket over his black t-shirt, his blue jeans, his red and black sneakers, and of course, the Z-Ring on his left wrist and the Mega Hat atop his head, though there was one fairly noticeable distinction between this time and most any other time; Meowth was not present on his shoulder.

No, Keith knew the rules of this competition. He knew, only one Pokémon could accompany him in this competition, and Meowth steadfastly refused to dress up for the competition- unlike Keith, Meowth wasn't fond of dressing in costume, no matter the occasion. And this also meant he couldn't take any shortcuts by having his Ditto form any part of his costume, either, nor use the illusory capabilities of his Ghost-types. Indeed, none of those were what he chose for this competition. What he did choose, however, was made quite evident by the round, vivid green shell he held in his arms, with a pair of piercing red eyes peering out of said shell.

"It'll be great, Artemis," Keith smiled as he made his way to the community hall. "I'll be a Munchlax, you'll be a Watmel Berry. Charming in its simplicity, yeah?"

"Scooon..." murmured Artemis, the Shiny Cascoon's voice somewhat doubtful. Indeed, as much as she was intrigued by the idea of dressing up in costume, this being her first Halloween, she still had her reservations on the matter. A Watmel Berry? Surely there were better options for her than that! And yet... not like this. Not the way she was. But as they set foot into the community hall, Artemis knew that if she wanted to get to actually wear such a better option, changes had to be made...

"Alright," Keith stated, sitting down at the nearest sewing table. "I'm thinking we work on your costume first, Artemis, because it's gonna... Artemis?" he added, for he spotted something odd out of the corner of his eye. And as he turned to look at the Shiny Cascoon he'd set down on the table, his mouth fell open in shock and wonder.

~~~~~

A considerable amount of time later, the costumes were finished. It took far longer than Keith had anticipated, but under the circumstances, he really had nothing to complain about. Artemis had made necessary a rather drastic change in costume ideas on her part, but Keith was of the opinion that it all worked out for the best in the end.

Keith stood and admired himself in a nearby mirror- he too had changed his costume idea, though this had less to do with any unforeseen drastic changes, and more to do with the realization that a human-sized Munchlax costume... it just didn't look good. Now, the Heracross costume Keith had constructed instead, that was a whole other swarm of Yanma! Keith had painstakingly sought out pieces of plastic that were just the right shape to be part of the costume- fabric would not do to convey the likeness of such a sturdy, armored insect, he felt. And Artemis had been a great help in the construction of this outfit, her String Shot making a wonderful adhesive. Of course, not all of the pieces of plastic were the right color, but then, was that not why the good lord Arceus invented paint? What Keith wore could only be described as a cross between a Heracross decoy and a suit of armor. A pair of plastic shoes made to look like the feet of a Heracross, complete with the single toe claw on each one. Plastic leg covers. Plastic arm covers, complete with claws- Keith's hands themselves remained uncovered by the plastic (though he wore dark blue gloves on them so as to not detract from the disguise's appearance), though his head and torso were clad in a large plastic capsule. This capsule, the arm pieces, and the leg pieces, none of them were actually connected, and left sufficient space for Keith to bend his arms and legs as he saw fit. The plastic capsule what that encapsulated his torso and head was made to look exactly like the torso and head of a Heracross, complete with little plastic protrusions to simulate Heracross's antenna, and of course, what Heracross costume would be complete without that big damn horn? It made Keith have to bend over in order to get through doorways, but as he admired the end result in the mirror, he was convinced it was worth it. One of the old ladies had even helped Keith put together some dark blue sleeves to slip over his legs and arms, so that the bits of them exposed by the gaps between the plastic of the costume did not take away from the overall effect.

And how does one summon a Heracross in the first place? Why, by slathering Honey on a tree, of course! And that was where Artemis came in, with a costume infinitely better than Keith's initial ideas, and one much better suited to how she looked now. Indeed, maybe a Shiny Cascoon could pass for a Watmel Berry with a simple paint job, but one could hardly say the same for a ! Artemis knew the time had come for change, and by change, she meant evolution! And Keith's initial mild disappointment at the need to change his plans dissipated on the spot- not only because he was proud of his Pokémon, but also because this opened up some new and different costume possibilities. Indeed, Artemis was showing off her new look quite well, and so fitting to the time of year, too- for it was autumn, and in the autumn, the leaves on trees change color. Gold and red were popular colors for leaves to turn at this time of year, and Artemis's beautiful wings had both of those colors covered. Her small purple body was wrapped in brown fabric, which dangled down beneath her to create the trunk of a Charti tree. Yes, a Charti tree, for numerous fake Charti Berries dotted the faux foliage they had created, each colorful leaf cut from fabric, shades of red and gold chosen to match the Shiny Dustox's wings beautifully, and the Charti Berries themselves, much like their actual counterparts, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Dustox antennae. And to top off the connection between the two costumes, part of the trunk was slathered in honey-colored paint to give the impression of a tree slathered with Honey. Keith's initial idea was to use real Honey- he'd bought some a while back, after all- but it was quickly decided that this course of action came with too large a risk of attracting unwanted and potentially unruly wild Pokémon to the festivities, and so they went with the next best thing.

"Alright, Artemis," Keith grinned, clicking sounds emanating from his costume as he walked, the plastic components clicking against each other as he moved. "Let's practice this, try to get it just right for the event, OK?"

"Dus, Dustox!" nodded Artemis. Thankfully for her, the costume she wore, while somewhat sizable, was also made to be mercifully lightweight, allowing her to still fly even while wearing it.

They had reached a small clearing outside, which was perfect to practice. "Then let's give it a shot," he stated. "First off, fire your Poison Sting straight up into the air!"

The needles slowly stopped gaining height, and began to fall. A cause of concern for most, but to Keith, merely his cue to give the next command. "Alright- rapid-fire String Shot! Grab 'em all!" he ordered.

"Tox tox tox tox tox tox tox tox tox!" Artemis grunted, lauching strand after strand, She didn't manage to snare every single needle, but she got enough of them for Keith's liking, particularly for a first try. Besides, the missed needles might still come into play...

"And now for the big finish, let's give your new move a shot," said Keith. "Gust attack, let's go!"

"Tox! Tox! Tox!" exclaimed Artemis, flapping her recently-acquired wings. Her aim here, as soon became evident, was to generate a whirlwind all around herself and her (mercifully well-built) costume. It didn't get her to budge, but it did grab hold of the Poison Sting needles and start to whirl them around. Not only the few that fell to the ground, but also the ones Artemis still had tethered to her by way of String Shot.

And as the needles whirled around, Keith grinned every time he saw purple sparks fly. Every time two needles collided, the clash of Poison-type energy on Poison-type energy created a small blast. Very small, more like a popping noise. Like little firecrackers going off, each pop accompanied by those purple sparks. Hardly the most spectacular fireworks show anyone's ever seen, but none too shabby as far as Keith was concerned. And who knows? With even more practice, who was to say just how much better this performance would get by the time the big event rolled around? Though, he reasoned, Artemis should probably get in just as much practice outside her costume as she got in it- she had to get accustomed to doing this routine while wearing her costume, but by the same token, neither of them wanted to wreck the costume with prolonged practices before anyone even got to see it.